Movement of tools and materials around a construction site or similar project site often represents a substantial portion of the time and effort required to complete a project. While some smaller and lighter objects can be transported by hand, objects of difficult shape and weight require multiple persons or special tools or equipment for transportation.
In particular, objects such doors and sheet materials are difficult to transport due to the fact that they are large in at least one (1) dimension. This can result in frustration and wasted labor costs since the moving of such objects requires a level of coordination, navigation, and effort disproportionate to the weight of the objects. In addition, many common transportational tools such as dollies and the like are not well suited to moving objects with such dimensions. This can cause undue difficulty in maneuvering such objects in narrow hallways, for example.
Various attempts have been made to provide dolly devices for doors and similarly dimensioned materials. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,651, issued in the name of Bigney, describes a hand truck adapted to receive sheet materials with a locking bar for retaining the materials during transport.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,410, issued in the name of Sare et al., describes a sheet material carrying device comprising a “U”-shaped frame which receives an edge of a sheet material. The Sare device provides wheels to allow a user to push the sheet material along a ground surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,090, issued in the name of Bross, describes a door dolly which provides engagement for a lower corner of a door or similarly shaped object while providing a handled rolling means to a single user for transport of the object.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,184, issued in the name of Armstrong et al., describes a wheeled door carrier with a vice mechanism which aids a single user in the transport and hanging of a door or similar panel object.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,274, issued in the name of Muscat, describes an article transport dolly for sheet materials which provides a wheeling means including a non-slip surface and braking features.
Additionally, ornamental designs for a door or sheet material dolly exist, particularly U.S. Pat. Nos. D 310,894; D 340,337; and D 550,921. However, none of these designs are similar to the present invention.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more of the aforementioned disadvantages. Many such devices are themselves bulky, making for difficult in storing and transporting the device during periods of non-use. Also, many such devices do not adequately secure the transported materials which can cause dislodging when experiencing bumps or the like. Furthermore, many such devices only allow transport of the materials in one particular spatial orientation which can make fitting and maneuvering the carried objects difficult in narrow spaces. In addition, many such devices are not easily resizable and adjustable to secure accommodate varying thicknesses or amounts of doors or sheet materials. Accordingly, there exists a need for a door and sheet material transporter without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.